Why Bryan Singer Was Fired From ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’

Although we’ve known for quite some time that Bryan Singer was fired from his job directing the Queen film Bohemian Rhapsody, the specifics of just what went down on the set have been largely unknown. A new report in THRlays out many of the details — and they are shocking.

It’s not that they’re necessarily salacious; whatever stories are revealed in the upcoming Esquire article about Singer (which Singer has already rebutted publicly, even thought it hasn’t been published yet) were apparently not involved in Fox’s decision to replace Singer with Dexter Fletcher with several weeks remaining in the Bohemian Rhapsody shoot. Instead, it came down to some very simple rules, which Singer apparently broke. According to THR, the head of Fox, Stacey Snider, laid out the ground rules for the film before production: “Don't break the law. Show up to work every day. Failure to comply will bring consequences.”

And then there were consequences.

THR describes Singer (no relation) as “often unprepared and late to set” and claims that if he was “challenged about his behavior, he sometimes cried.” And they also recount an incident involving “electrical equipment thrown by Singer (though not at anyone).” Eventually, there were formal complaints by Malek and then Singer was dismissed.

The director did provide the following statement to THR about their story:

"Any discussion about fights between myself and Rami Malek are simply an exaggeration of a few creative differences that were quickly resolved. This is normal on a film set. And I think the work speaks for itself."

I didn’t particularly like anything about Bohemian Rhapsody except the concert footage (you can read my full review here) but given the amount of strife behind the scenes, I am surprised the movie feels as polished as it does. It isn’t a disaster; it doesn’t feel like a troubled production — just a by-the-numbers rock biopic. I’m not sure who deserves the credit for that. Bohemian Rhapsody opens in theaters on Friday.

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